Peak Health Wellness Insights Issue 19
Mental Resilience
Your satisfaction is influenced by who you compare yourself to.
Interesting insights demonstrate that how satisfied we are with what we have is affected measurably by who we compare ourselves to and the perceived distance from that person. Satisfaction is influenced by "low-level" features when the person we compare to is similar, but influenced by "high-level" features when the other person was perceived as dissimilar.
Sleep
Sleep deprivation might have an influence on Alzheimer's progression
New study shows that men who experienced one night of sleep deprivation had significant increases in the level of tau protein (a biomarker of Alzheimer's Disease) in their blood. It is believed that sleep clears tau out of the brain each night, therefore a night of insufficient sleep interrupts this process, which may put one at greater risk of Alzheimers progression.
Nutrition
Tea may be beneficial for the brain health and preventing against depression
Research shows that tea may help to maintain healthy cognitive functioning in the brain. Specifically, the ingredients in tea such as catechin, L-theanine, and caffeine, help with positive mood, cognitive ability, cardiovascular health, cancer prevention and mortality. However, studies in this areas are primitive, and the social connection facilitated by sharing a cup tea cannot be discounted.
Fitness
High intensity exercise has a positive impact on sleep
Findings show that higher levels of moderate and vigorous physical activity was associated with better sleep. However, sleep improvement was not experienced with light physical activity. This suggests exercise intensity is an important factor for sleep health.
Productivity Tip
Work smarter, not harder.
Try to take notice of the time(s) of the day when you are most productive. Perhaps you get twice as much done in the mornings, or have a second wind late in the evening after dinner. Schedule your day so you are available to get a lot of work done at these times.
Habit Hack of the week
Start tracking your failures when they happen, without judgement. Then, later, think through what you can learn from that experience. After a few weeks of enforcing this habit, you will start to equate failure with an opportunity for improvement.